Re: Lobby group wants insulin inquiry
Posted by bobbapink on Feb 10, 2002 at 11:43
207-172-209-123.s123.tnt1.nrf.va.dialup.rcn.com (207.172.209.123)Re: Lobby group wants insulin inquiry (Dale)
But enough political philosophy. This is a science forum. If there really is a chemical difference in the synthetic insulin, why can’t we easily fix that? If there isn’t any difference, then why can’t we just tell these people to get a life?
I think, given what I’ve read so far, that there is a real rather than imagined problem for some folk. But fixing that is going to require getting out the calculator. A vast amount of [mostly] private capital was invested to get the protein to fold in a manner that is acceptable to 99.9% of the intended recipients. A lesser but nevertheless comparable amount might be required to fold it differently for the remaining .1%. I don't see the profit. Especially if the new protein was not acceptable to the original 99.9%, which I suppose is a real possibility.
Would I as a non-diabetic be willing to foot part of that bill? I think that depends on whether or not someone was attempting to force me to do so, and how many other .1%’s with other difficulties were also in dire need. But that too strays into the realm of politics.
On the other hand, would I be willing to foot part of the bill to find a cure? I think more likely I might, regardless of the foot extraction means, charitable or otherwise. Although in this particular case, I can’t really define and describe why I feel there is a difference, other than one is specific to a unique few while the other is universal.
Follow Ups:
- Re: Lobby group wants insulin inquiry Dale 10/2 12:02 (0)